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This village-like suburb beside the bay punches above its weight for food and drink. Three new names add extra pulling power, from the first coffee of the morning to late-night cocktails.
Hugging the bay, bisected by a canal and shaded by plane trees, Elwood ranks highly on the charmometer. There’s no train, trams barely skirt the perimeter and arterial roads stick to the edges, maintaining a cosy village feel despite being just eight kilometres south-east of the city. It’s a place for ice-cream (or hot chocolate) on the beach, pasta with a sea view and Sunday jazz with snacks.
Elwood’s population skews wealthier and less diverse than the Victorian average, with large homes dotted between Art Deco flats, and 30 or so streets named after (mostly) English poets, apparently to improve the character of the suburb’s unruly nineteenth-century residents. Then, as now, Ormond Road is the main shopping strip. This is a good time to explore Elwood, with new ventures and refreshed offerings ensuring the seaside suburb is a happy place for a wander.
Brooklyn Cocktail Bar
Builder Adrian Buceto moved to Elwood last year and felt powerfully drawn to the ‘hood’s swankiest cocktail bar. “I walked in, thought ‘Wow, it has an amazing feel, like a place I remember from Florence’,” he says. “I asked the owner if he would sell.” Fast forward to now and velvet-touched Brooklyn opens early in the morning for coffee and panini, and pours drinks well into the night. The Black Velvet cocktail (with bourbon, cognac and sour cherry) leads the signature drinks list. Despite the plush, clubby feel, Brooklyn is an easygoing place with good-value happy hours and Thursday karaoke.
81 Ormond Road, Elwood, brooklyncocktailbar.com.au
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Leaf
There are two (much flashier) Leaf stores in Armadale and Hawthorn these days, but the Elwood grocer is the OG, looking after the community since 2007. There’s always impeccable, seasonal fruit and veg stacked along the two tiny aisles and often a showcase of lesser-seen varieties of citrus, apples, plums – whatever is on the march. The focus on quality sometimes costs more, but there are always keen deals on the week’s most abundant produce. Premium pantry goods include excellent Lello Pasta, while new in the fridge is flavourful, grass-fed Mugavin Beef, sourced directly from owner Leon Mugavin’s brother Tim in western Victoria.
111 Ormond Road, Elwood, theleafstore.com.au
Rosie’s
It’s hard to explain Rosie’s without talking about Johnny’s, a coffee roaster and cafe which opened here 13 years ago. Johnny’s still does Elwood’s best coffee (though the Beach Shack on the foreshore is a close second). Two years ago, owner Steve Boyle opened dog-friendly Rosie’s bar in the backyard. Then a few weeks ago, he added a kitchen and seating in the shop next door to serve excellent bar snacks and well-chosen wine Friday to Sunday evenings.
Standout dishes from chef Jeremy Fraser include beautifully boned quail served over cabbage cooked in quail jus, and chocolate mousse on brioche toast. Johnny’s serves breakfast in the same space on weekends (have the shakshuka) and there’s jazz on Sunday afternoons.
157 Ormond Road, Elwood, instagram.com/_rosies_bar_
Artisanal Bakery & Patisserie
Bentleigh’s treasure is now Elwood’s treat. French chef and baker David Caillaud has brought his baked goods (and sit-down coffee) to a new location. The bread is great but it’s the viennoiserie that truly stands out for generosity and fine craftsmanship. (Artisanal’s croissant ranked No. 3 in Good Food’s Melbourne-wide taste test last year. ) The cheese straws, garlic croissant and seasonal pastries like apple turnover are highlights. Specials change frequently but if you come upon the tiramisu Danish, cancel all plans and prepare for extreme joy.
67 Glen Huntly Road, Elwood, artisanalbakehouse.com.au
Mama Blu’s
This is the actual finger-licking chicken: Stephanie Kamener’s jerk chicken recipe was even included in Yotam Ottolenghi’s book, Comfort. Kamener and her husband Martin present food inspired by Steff’s Jamaican background. As well as the jerk, you should order rice and beans, and some fried okra – oh, and the rum-spiked mulled wine they’re doing this winter.
The petite, colourful venue is only open Wednesday, Thursday and one Saturday a month because the main business is hot sauce. “We do the restaurant because we love it, not because it’s a huge money-making enterprise,” says Martin. There’s plenty to love right back: this is a unique business that deserves Melbourne’s support.
61 Glen Huntly Road, Elwood, mamablu.com.au
Elwood Bathers
When you want a foreshore restaurant that can feel like an occasion but also work for a no-fuss burger night with the gang, you might be wanting Elwood Bathers. It doesn’t have the cachet of St Kilda’s beachfront restaurants but there’s better parking and you can probably spend a bit less. Plus, there’s an al fresco area, and the sea views are just as stunning. Steak, fish ‘n’ chips and seafood linguine seem to find their way to most tables but under-the-radar winners include the comte tart with roasted leek, and a bountiful tuna nicoise salad brightened by radish and witlof.
23 Barring Buluk Circuit, Elwood, elwoodbathers.com
